At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead architectural design and guide teams in cloud-native solutions using AWS.
- Company: Award-winning tech company recognised for its exceptional workplace culture.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, private healthcare, flexible hours, and generous leave policy.
- Other info: Join a collaborative team focused on continuous learning and professional growth.
- Why this job: Shape innovative cloud solutions and drive digital transformation across diverse industries.
- Qualifications: Extensive experience in cloud architecture and strong stakeholder management skills.
The predicted salary is between 72000 - 88000 £ per year.
We’re looking for an experienced Solutions Architect to provide architectural leadership across a portfolio of complex client engagements and digital transformation programmes. As one of our most senior technical leaders, you'll work across multiple industries, partnering with client stakeholders, delivery teams and engineers to shape cloud-native solutions that solve real business challenges. You'll play a key role in defining technology strategy, governing solution design, and helping organisations modernise legacy estates while accelerating innovation through AWS and modern cloud architectures.
This role combines strategic architectural leadership with hands-on technical guidance. You'll be responsible for creating scalable, secure and resilient solutions, influencing technology decisions at all levels, and ensuring successful delivery across a diverse range of projects. From platform modernisation and cloud migration initiatives to customer-facing digital products, data platforms and AI-enabled solutions, you'll bring both technical depth and commercial awareness to every engagement.
The ideal candidate will have broad expertise across application, data, integration, security and cloud architecture, alongside the ability to build trusted relationships with clients and guide multidisciplinary teams through complex technology transformations.
What You'll Do
- Lead architecture across client engagements spanning application, integration, data, cloud and security domains
- Define target-state architectures and technology roadmaps aligned to client business objectives
- Design and govern AWS-based cloud solutions using modern architectural patterns and best practices
- Establish architecture standards, principles, guardrails and governance frameworks across delivery programmes
- Facilitate architecture review boards and decision-making forums
- Translate business capabilities and operational requirements into scalable technical solutions
- Review solution designs, technical artefacts and implementation approaches to ensure quality and alignment
- Shape cloud-native platforms leveraging microservices, APIs, event-driven architectures and serverless capabilities
- Guide organisations through cloud adoption, application modernisation and platform transformation initiatives
- Enable engineering teams through technical mentoring, architecture coaching and hands-on support
- Support discovery activities, technical assessments, architecture due diligence and pre-sales engagements
- Contribute to solution estimation, technical proposals and client presentations
- Manage architectural risk, technical debt and key design trade-offs throughout the delivery lifecycle
- Ensure solutions meet security, compliance, resilience and operational requirements
- Collaborate with senior client stakeholders to align technology decisions with strategic and commercial objectives
- Support operating model design, platform governance and transition to long-term support and operations
Knowledge Skills & Abilities
- Extensive experience spanning cloud, application, integration, data and security architecture
- Proven track record designing and delivering enterprise-scale AWS solutions
- Strong knowledge of cloud-native architecture patterns, including microservices, APIs and event-driven systems
- Experience leading architecture across multiple concurrent programmes or client engagements
- Deep understanding of AWS services and best practices across infrastructure, networking, security, data and platform services
- Experience governing architecture within large-scale delivery environments
- Ability to influence senior stakeholders and communicate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences
- Experience integrating enterprise platforms, SaaS products and third-party services
- Strong understanding of security, resilience, observability and operational excellence principles
- Ability to balance strategic architectural leadership with pragmatic, hands-on decision making
- Familiarity with agile delivery methodologies and product-centric operating models
- Strong consulting, stakeholder management and relationship-building skills
- A collaborative leadership style focused on enabling teams and fostering engineering excellence
Behaviours
- An open and genuine communicator
- Able to take responsibility for your actions
- Always learning and wanting to improve
- Takes responsibility for own development
- Love what you do
- Value and support your team
- Embrace who you are
- Open minded and willing to explore new ideas
What We Offer
We value our team and to attract exceptional people, we offer an excellent package! In 2023, 2024 and 2025 we were recognised as one of the Best Workplaces in Tech by Great Place To Work UK, the global authority on workplace culture. As a Leighton employee you can look forward to:
- A competitive salary this will be dependent on experience.
- A contributory pension scheme
- Private healthcare
- 25 days annual leave, plus bank holidays and the opportunity to buy or sell holiday
- A flexible approach to working hours
- Continuous personal development, career path and training
- And more....
Solutions Architect - AWS in Newcastle upon Tyne employer: Leighton
Leighton is an exceptional employer that fosters a culture of excellence and talent growth, making it an ideal place for proactive individuals looking to make a significant impact in enterprise business development. With regular travel opportunities to vibrant cities like Leeds, Newcastle, and London, employees benefit from diverse experiences and collaboration with a dynamic team, ensuring both personal and professional development. The supportive work environment encourages innovation and offers pathways for career advancement, making it a rewarding choice for those seeking meaningful employment.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Solutions Architect - AWS in Newcastle upon Tyne
✨Join Local Tech Meetups
Get out there and mingle with fellow developers by joining local tech meetups. It’s a fantastic way to meet people who might be working at Leighton or know someone who does. Plus, you can pick up some trendy tech skills and trends while you're at it!
✨Contribute to Open Source Projects
Show off your coding chops by jumping into open-source projects. Not only does this give you practical experience, but it also gets you noticed in the dev community. You'll create a killer portfolio that speaks volumes about your skills to Leighton.
✨Tap into Online Developer Communities
Don’t underestimate the power of online developer communities like GitHub, Stack Overflow, and even Reddit. Participate in discussions, share your projects, and build your visibility. We can often find opportunities through these channels that can lead to a full-time gig at companies like Leighton.
✨Explore Job Boards Specifically for Tech Roles
Keep your eyes peeled on job boards that focus on tech roles. Sites like TechCareers or Stack Overflow Jobs can often have listings for companies like Leighton that might not show up on broader job sites. Make it a habit to check these regularly, and don’t hesitate to apply directly through our website!
We think you need these skills to ace Solutions Architect - AWS in Newcastle upon Tyne
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.
Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at Leighton.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Leighton and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!
Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!
How to prepare for a job interview at Leighton
✨Brush Up on Your Coding Skills
For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.
✨Know Your Tools and Frameworks
Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If Leighton uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.
✨Showcase Your Projects
Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.
✨Prepare for Behavioural Questions
While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.
